What Brine does

Brine is a chicken restaurant brand founded in 2020 and operated by Kiss Hospitality Inc., a privately held U.S. corporation. The company runs a direct-to-consumer food service concept built around a proprietary 24-hour brining technique applied to fire-grilled chicken. It operates two physical restaurant locations — its flagship in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City (106 8th Ave.) and a second site in Fair Lawn, New Jersey — alongside dine-in service, takeout, delivery, and a formal catering offering for events and corporate clients.

The core product portfolio centers on 24-hour brined boneless chicken breast prepared over fire, complemented by buttermilk brined tenders, bowls, sandwiches (including an MSG fried chicken sandwich), salads, sides, and a suite of house-made sauces. A seasonal Pumpkin Pie Brine Tart extends the line into limited-occasion catering. The "underlying technology" is culinary rather than software-driven: a recipe and process developed over several years with extensive batch testing, rather than a protected patent or proprietary platform. Ordering runs through a standard Wix-hosted site with Toast-based online ordering and marketing sign-up; no mobile app, API, or proprietary software stack is in evidence.

The revenue model is straightforward food and beverage sales across dine-in, takeout, delivery, and catering channels, with customer acquisition driven by organic social (Facebook, Instagram), a newsletter signup, a loyalty program, and location footfall in the NY/NJ metro. Pricing is not publicly disclosed, and no subscription, tiered, or contracted enterprise revenue model exists. The customer base is split between individual consumers (primary) and business catering clients (secondary), with no named enterprise accounts. The company appears founder/operator-managed with no disclosed institutional capital, M&A activity, or senior leadership hires in the available data.

Name

Brine

Legal name

Kiss Hospitality Inc.

Website

https://brinechicken.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Brine is a privately held chicken restaurant brand founded in 2020 by Kiss Hospitality Inc., serving dine-in, takeout, delivery, and catering customers across two locations in New York City and New Jersey. Its core offering centers on proprietary 24-hour brined, fire-grilled chicken.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Casual Dining / Chicken Restaurant

NAICS

Limited-Service Restaurants (722513), Caterers (722320)

SIC

Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Chicken Concepts (Fried/Grilled/Hot Chicken) (THAFABAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Chicken & Wings QSR (THAFAAAC), Full-Service Catering (Off-Premise) (HSACAGAA)

Keywords

• Brined fried chicken
• Fire grilled chicken
• Restaurant catering services
• Chicken sandwiches bowls
• New York chicken restaurant

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Food and beverage sales: Revenue generated from direct food and beverage sales through dine-in service, takeout orders, delivery orders, and catering services. Located at 106 8th Ave, New York, NY 10011 with operating hours Monday-Sunday 11:30AM-10PM.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Brine operates a chicken-focused restaurant concept selling signature 24-hour brined, fire-grilled chicken through dine-in, takeout, delivery, and catering channels across two New York/New Jersey locations. The menu centers on brined chicken dishes, buttermilk tenders, bowls, sandwiches, salads, sides, and house-made sauces, with a dedicated catering line for events and group meals.

Product overview

Brine is a New York-based chicken restaurant offering a unified food service concept built around its signature 24-hour brined, fire-grilled chicken. The product portfolio centers on core menu categories including Chicken with Sides, Buttermilk Tenders, Bowls, Sandwiches, Salads, and Sides, all featuring the restaurant's signature brining technique and house-made sauces. Additional offerings include Catering Services for events and the seasonal Pumpkin Pie Brine Tart. The brand emphasizes quality ingredients and a 'work hard, play hard' lifestyle positioning.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Chicken with Sides

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Chick-fil-A: Largest US chicken QSR; competes for the same chicken-sandwich/tender occasions and takeaway customers as Brine across dine-in, takeout, delivery, and catering.
• Bonchon Chicken: Korean double-fried chicken specialist with US stores in markets including NY/NJ; comparable to Brine as a premium, chef-driven specialty chicken concept that competes in similar urban dining occasions.
• Wingstop: Specialty chicken-wing concept with strong off-premise and digital ordering muscle. Comparable to Brine in narrow chicken-product focus, delivery-led mix, and loyalty-driven repeat traffic.
• Raising Cane's: National chicken-focused QSR/fast-casual chain built around a single signature product (chicken fingers). Directly comparable to Brine's chicken-centric limited-menu positioning and counter-service dine-in/takeout/delivery model.
• Dave's Hot Chicken: Fast-growing Nashville-style hot chicken fast-casual chain with a similar differentiated/specialty chicken positioning, counter service, and rapid unit expansion playbook comparable to Brine's brand story.

Broad incumbents

• CAVA: Scalable fast-casual concept built around bowls with strong digital ordering and catering. Comparable to Brine on fast-casual operating model, catering channel, and category positioning toward a quality-conscious urban consumer.
• Sweetgreen: National fast-casual concept with bowls, salads and a digital/loyalty stack; useful comparable on fast-casual unit economics, NYC/NJ real estate footprint, and catering-led B2B revenue mix overlapping Brine's.
• McDonald's: Dominant QSR incumbent with a large chicken menu and a strong digital/loyalty/delivery stack; functions as the broad benchmark for competitive intensity and customer acquisition costs Brine faces.
• Shake Shack: NYC-born premium fast-casual chain with chicken sandwiches and a Chelsea-adjacent flagship. Comparable as a New York-anchored fast-casual brand operating dine-in, delivery, and catering in the same metro.
• KFC: Global incumbent in the chicken QSR category; relevant comparable for category dynamics, supply chain scale, and delivery dependence that any expanding chicken concept (including Brine) must compete with.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/thebrinechicken
• Instagraminstagram.com/brinechicken
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/brinechicken

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Brine